ARMA Arizona has been around for more than 40 years, as of 2014. In February of 1972, the American Records Management Association granted a charter to the Arizona chapter. Note that this was three years before the American Records Management Association (ARMA) and the Association of Records Executive and Administrators (AREA) merged to become the new ARMA (Association for Records Managers and Administrators). Early topics for meetings and seminars included microfilming, mechanized filing systems and forms design. There were 21 charter members.

Some of the highlights of the years since include:

Partnering with ASU for some of the Spring Seminars

Creating and supporting classes at Phoenix College & Glendale Community College

Creating an 1.5 hour video on “Records Management in the Valley of the Sun”

Hosting the regional Leadership Conference 3 times and the national conference in 1979

Supporting Outreach – a consistent part of the Chapter’s mission, not only with food drives and the like, but also by donating expertise to charity groups – training them in record keeping, for example

Doing as many as four seminars in a year

Sharing activities with the Grand Canyon Chapter of AIIM

Participation in the ITEC Convention

Membership levels have ranged from 70 to 117 or so over the last 30 years

Professional Development has been a part of the Chapter’s mission for most of the time the Chapter has been in existence and continues to be emphasized today

New technology continues to be used to bring seminars to members in outlying regions